1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to devices for carrying cameras, and in particular, pertains to shoulder supports for video cameras.
2. Description of the Related Art
Because many types of still and video cameras are bulky and/or heavy, a wide variety of shoulder rests and supports have been devised to assist in carrying such cameras. Professional video cameras, used for filming in such diverse settings as weddings and sports events, are often particularly unwieldy and have numerous accessories that must be carried by the photographer. In addition, video photographers often need to adjust the shooting angle of the camera, by tilting it up or down or sideways, which can be difficult to do when the camera is affixed to a support.
Many of the prior camera supports have a support piece that is shaped to fit the shape of the user""s shoulder (for example, U.S. Patent Des. Pat. Nos. 289,162 of Lisowski; 323,181 of Puskas et al.; 302,697 of Parrish; and 302,171 of Assel et al.; and U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,873,645 and 4,895,286 of DeRosa). Some of the camera supports have additional hand-holds or other support mechanisms to steady or support the camera (for example, U.S. Des. Pat. Nos. 324,874 of Kardach; 376,611 of Field; and U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,370,611 of DuMais; 4,963,904 of Lee; 4,091,975 of Russell, Jr.; 4,244,500 of Fournier). Others have the camera mounted substantially ahead of the support piece with a hand-hold on the portion of the support beneath the camera (for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,712,779 of Tolcher; 3,767,095 of Jones; 4,083,480 of Lee et al.; 5,612,756 of Kardach; and 5,513,784 of Pretorius). Padding has been used on a number of prior camera supports (for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,934,769 of Carlson, Jr.; 4,083,480 of Lee et al.; and 4,991,758 of Eaneff, as well as some of the other patents cited above). The patent of Kelso et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 3,900,140) has a cantilevered arm that rotatably secures the camera unit to a back support, while the patent of Eaneff (U.S. Pat. No. 4,991,758) has a strap arrangement that transfers part of the load from the shoulder bearing the camera to the other shoulder and the support of Robinson, Sr. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,787,317) includes a shoulder harness with spaced-apart shoulder supports.
The supports disclosed by the above-referenced patents are generally quite complicated structures, and are not well-balanced or sufficiently comfortably worn to allow long periods of use. Many of the prior supports do not provide means for adjusting the device for different wearers. In addition, little or no storage capability for camera accessories is found in the prior supports.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a shoulder platform for a camera that is balanced for comfortable use and is adjustable to fit on the shoulder of particular wearers. It is a further object of the invention to provide a shoulder platform for a camera that has storage capability for a number of different camera accessories and for film.
Other objects and advantages will be more fully apparent from the following disclosure and appended claims.
The invention herein is a shoulder platform that is well-balanced and stable on an operator""s shoulder when the camera is mounted on the platform, allowing hands-free balance of the mounted camera. The shoulder platform has an elongated bent frame, a shoulder mount affixed below the frame, a compartment front mounted on the frame above the shoulder mount, two sides mounted above and along the sides of the frame, shelves, storage compartments for camera components and accessories, a latch mechanism, an elongated compartment attached to the lowest shelf that can be latched to the latch mechanism, and means so that the supported camera mounted on the camera mount piece may be placed in different positions for photographing subject matter while keeping the shoulder platform stationary on the operator""s shoulder.
Other objects and features of the inventions will be more fully apparent from the following disclosure and appended claims.